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(No Model.)

A. B. HOBSON. DIE FOR FORMING FLAT 0R HOLLOW WARE;

.No. 410.281. Patented.$ept. 3, L889.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR E. HOBSON, OF HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, AS S IGNOR OF ONE- HALF TO I. J. STEANE & CO., OF SAME PLACE.

DIE FOR FORMING FLAT OR HOLLOW WARE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 410,281, dated September 3, 1889.

Application filed April 9, 1889. Serial No. 306,604. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ARTHUR E. HOBSON, of Hartford, in the county of Hartford and State of Connecticut, have in vented certain new and and useful Improvements in Dies for Forming Flat or Hollow Ware, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, whereby any one skilled in the art can make and use the same.

The object of my invention is to provide a die of such construction that it may be used for the purpose of producing exact duplicates of artistic engraving and like han d-work used for the shaping orornamenting of the outside of the walls of hollow vessels or flat ware that are for ornament or use.

My object is to produce a die havinga workingsurface against which a more or less ductile metal is forced by great pressure, so that an imprint of the design or pattern borne on the working-face of the die shall be displayed on the face of the blank. The old methods of shaping articles between dies cannot be practically employed for this purpose, for the reason that the pressure required for accomplishing this end is so great as to break down the working-face of the two dies between which it is attempted to shape the metal, owing to the unyielding nature of the opposing metallic dies and the difficulty of producing exact duplicates in reverse of the two working-surfaces between which the metal is to be formed.

My invention, by the use of which all difficulties attending the attempted realization of the result of the use of old tools or methods has been obviated, consists in the combination of a die having a Working-face produced by the electro-deposition of metal on a pattern and a liquid medium filling the vesselblank and subjected to great pressure, and such a feature forms the subject-matter of a pending application filed April 9, 1889, Serial No. 306,603, to which reference is herein made for a further description. My within-described improvement, however, consists in the peculiar method of forming a sectional die by the electro-deposition of metal, as more particularly hereinafter described, and pointed outin the claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a detail view, in side elevation, of a pattern provided with feathers and having part broken away to illustrate the construction. Fig. 2 is a detail top view of the same. Fig. '3 is a detail view, in side elevation, of a set of dies with a blank arranged therein and with parts broken away to show construction Fig. 4 is a detail top view of the sectional dies and blank with parts broken away in horizontal section to show construction. Figs. 5, (i, and

7 are detail diagram views illustrating the method of holding the pattern for the electrodeposition of metal thereon.

In the accompanying drawings, the letter a 6 5- denotes a pattern that is usually made of thin metal and has its outer surface engraved and ornamented to anydegree of artistic skill that may be desired. This pattern is cut, preferably,in planes parallel to the axis, as by means of a fine saw, and feathers I) are secured in these slots, as by means of solder. These feathers consist of thin sheets of metal that a are intended to form the boundary planes between the several sections into which the fin- 7 5 ished die will be divided, and they extend Within the vessel and also beyond it a suflicient distance to enable the proper thickness of facing metal to be formed by the electrodeposition of a suitable metal upon the pat- So tern. This pattern is silver-plated, if of a metal that will be readily cut by acid, and it is then oxidized, as by the use of sulphate of potash or any other suitable material, so as to form upon the surface of the pattern a parting layer between it and the die. After having coated the pattern with wax on the inside it is placed in an electro-bath, and in said bath is covered with a suitable thickness of copper (or other suitable metal) that forms a layer 0 of suitable thickness to constitute the working-face of the die, and this metal deposited by the influence of electricity forms along the surface of the feathers and makes an integral flange extending radially outward 5 from the face of the die. If the pattern is suspended in the solution, as in abath f, and

is maintained in one position with reference to a vertical line, the metal will be deposited through the influence of the electricity in such I00 manner that there will be no firm joint where the flange extends radially outward from the Working-face of the copper portion. This result, in my opinion, is due to the peculiar crystallization of the copper in the process of its electro-deposition upon the pattern, the several minute crystals all'being deposited in the same relation with respect to their axis upon the surface of the pattern; but Whatever may be the reason, it is a fact that whenthe pattern is maintained in a fixed position with reference to the vertical or horizontal plane, it is impossible to form an integral flange upon the Working-face of the die. This difficulty, however, is obviated by changing the position of the pattern with reference to a vertical or horizontal line. If a pattern is suspended,as shown in the diagram View in Fig, 5,and then after a short time its position is changed, as by suspending ittby the corner 1, and after a time this position is again changed by suspending the pattern from the corner 2, the several working-faces of the die-sections will each have the radially-extending flanges 01 firmly incorporated with the main portion of the working-face of each section. The parting plane between the sections is formed at the meeting faces of these radial flanges.

After having produced the working-face of the sectional die, it is provided with a backing cof tin or like metal that fuses at a lower temperature than copper, that is cast upon the face and forms a die-blank that may then be put into a lathe and turned down to the required dimension to enable it to fit into a socket in a hydraulic or drop press.

In the practice of my invention, after producing a sectional die by the method above described, it is placed in a socket in a press, a blank g is placed within it and filled with a liquid, as water, and by the exertion of great pressure upon this liquid the walls of the blank are forced outward into contact with the working-face of the (lie in such manner .in providing a pattern having that an exact reproduction of the artistic hand-engraving that ornamented the pattern is reproduced on the blank. 7 I V This die is preferably used in a press in which the pressure of the liquid, as water, is

scribed in my Reissued United States Letters Patent, dated May 29, 1888, No. 10,934.

I claim as my invention-- 1. The within-described method of making a sectional die having a working-face and integral flanges formed by the electro-deposition of metal, that consists in, first, making a pattern; second, dividing the outer surface of the pattern into a number of sections by projecting feathers of thin metal, and, third, suspending such pattern in an electro-bath and changing from time to time the position of the axis of theiwork or pattern with reference to a vertical line or plane, all substantially as described.

2. The method of making a sectional die by the electro-deposition of metal, that consists projecting feathers and changing at intervals the position of said pattern in the bath with reference to a vertical line or plane while the bath is active, all substantially as described.

3. As an improved article of manufacture, a sectional die having its working-face formed by the electro-deposition of metal with radiallyextending integral flanges, between which are the parting planes of the sections, all substantially as described.

ARTHUR E. HOBSON.

\Vitnesses:

A. B. JENKINS, CHAS. L. BURDETT. 

